Tenants living through 'pure hell' with no running water or heating since December

Portsea residents have voiced their anger towards Southern Housing Association, which manages some flats in Cardigan House, Kent Street. Scott Beachame, 48, has not had hot water and heating since January 19. He was told it might take three to six months to fix the problem.

“It’s still cold in the property,” he said. “We have to put the immersion on for the hot water. I’m only putting it on a little bit, but it’s costing a lot.” Beachame’s daughter lives in the same block with her two children. She spends at least £70 a week to stay warm and get hot water. One of her windows in the kitchen doesn’t shut properly.

Another resident, who doesn’t want to be named, is a single mother who described her tenancy as “pure hell”. “Me and my children were left without running cold water from December 14 2023 – I had to buy big bottles of cold water for us to drink and manually fill up the toilet every time it was used,” she said. “I phoned Southern Housing nonstop. They didn’t bother to fix it until January 9, 2024, when I had heating, hot water and cold water for only 10 days before the communal boiler that’s been classed as condemned stopped working.

The mother can’t afford to use her immersion heater, and she won’t buy her newborn child a Moses basket because she is worried about bed bugs. “We were told three to six weeks and now we’ve been told three to six months so I will be bringing home a newborn baby to a freezing cold flat,” she added.

Local MP Stephen Morgan said he was concerned to hear about the living conditions at Cardigan House. “I take the wellbeing and safety of all constituents extremely seriously, which is why I took immediate action as their MP to contact the EC Roberts Centre and Portsmouth City Council,” the Labour politician said. “I will continue to work closely with those involved to secure a resolution for my constituents”.

Southern Housing Group was approached for comment.